Lakeland College

My Reactions-Part 1
Posted on 6/16/2011 6:31:15 AM

Good morning everyone.

So I was sitting in my room last night and I was on stumbleupon and this website came up. No, not "that" type of website. It was a website with a bunch of different quotes and sayings. I came up with this idea, since the blog I had been working on for the past 3 days didn't save and I lost it all, to write a blog about my feelings towards these certain quotes or sayings. I came up with a few good ideas last night, but to be honest I wasn't in the blogging mood. So I'm hoping I can jog my memory and come up with the same ideas for you today.

The first saying that I will discuss was one that reminded me of my internship this past May at St. Vincent hospital. I don't believe I blogged about that at all, but basically what I was doing there was following the Child Life Specialists (CLS) around and learning how to do their job. I am planning on going back to school to be a CLS and it was amazing being able to work with children in the hospital. For the first week, I was in the hematology and oncology clinic (look those words up if you don't know what that means (: ) and for week 2 and the last 3 days I was there I was on the top floor, the in-patient unit. This unit had a Pediatric ICU as well as other rooms for patients to spend the night, or multiple nights, there. Through the 2.5 weeks I was there I made a lot of connections with the kids and I could tell stories about how much I loved it and the impact I made, but for patient confidentiality reasons, I won't. But just know that I loved it and I had a few of those "this is it" moments where I knew that this was the field I wanted to be in. Anyways, back to the subject. While I was there, part of the job was to have therapeutic play sessions with these kids. I would basically go to the room of the patient and play with them in between times when the nurses or doctor would need to see them or I would play while they waited for results. The other part of the job that I actually could only observe was called distractions. Basically I observed the CLS as they distracted the child from a procedure, ex: an IV start, blood draw, EEG leads, etc.. This was done in many different ways, but it really did make it easier for the nurses or doctors to do the procedures.

On to the saying now. "You know what's one of the saddest sounds in the world? Children playing. There is just something about sitting in your room with the windows open, listening to their joy and laughter. It's like there is some sort of magic going on outside that you can no longer join in on. Something you can no longer grasp. A secret club you don't remember the password to. And you realize that you've grown up."

 I actually have mixed reactions about this saying. First off I disagree completely that the sound of children playing is a sad sound. I think it's one of the coolest things you can witness. For me, it took me back to my childhood years. It brought back millions of memories from when I was a kid. It sparked my creative and imaginative juices and I felt young again. Granted I'm only 20, but I really felt like a child just listening to them play and have fun. So I disagree that it's a sad sound. But I do somewhat agree that hearing it makes you feel that you've "grown up." I don't believe that being "grown up" means that you lose the ability to play, though. In my opinion, being creative and being able to play is something that is in every single one of us, no matter the age. The trick is being able to separate that from our "grown up" lives. When I was at the hospital, I was able to sit in with these kids and play with them like I did when I was little. I played matchbox cars and pretended they were transformers, giving them all names and having battles with the kid I was playing with. I played blocks and pretended they were skyscrapers in a big city and we knocked them down like we were monsters. I played house and dolls and pretended to be a guest at an imaginary tea party. I think that play is crucial to life, not only for children but for adults too. I think it's important that we can distinguish between our adult lives and the play/imaginary lives we are living, but I think it helps us stay young, at least at heart. When someone tries to tell you that you are too old to play, prove them wrong. Show that your imagination hasn't left you and see how young it makes you feel and what kind of memories it brings back. You won't be disappointed. 

That's all I have for you, at least this morning. I'm thinking that this is going to be pretty fun and interesting. Hope all of you can keep up with me as I continue to blog about these interesting quotes and sayings. I had fun with this one so I'm looking forward to more.

Adios homies.